Thirty Australian Special Air Services troops have joined US Marines within striking distance of the Taliban bastion Kandahar, officials said Tuesday.
Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill said the elite SAS soldiers were an advance party and the remaining 120 Australian troops committed to the US-led campaign were expected to arrive later Tuesday or Wednesday.
"The advance party of Australian troops has arrived in Afghanistan and the remaining party will be arriving within the next day or so," Hill said in Canberra.
"The Australian forces are well prepared and trained for these tasks. We wish them well in this important mission."
A US Marine spokesman, Captain Stuart Upton, said a group of Australian troops had arrived during the night at the base set up by the Marines south of Kandahar.
He declined to provide any details about the Australians other than to say that "there are more Australians here now than just the liaison officers."
Australia, Britain and Germany all have liaison officers at the airstrip to coordinate coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Hill said the troops would operate under Australian command, with their activities coordinated through a coalition command centre.
He could not confirm the duration of the operation but expected it to continue for some months.
The Marines continued to fly in supplies and medical equipment overnight.
Captain David Romley said there was an average of 10 KC-130 Hercules planes arriving at the airstrip each night, in addition to flights by larger C-17 cargo planes.
Officials refuse to say how many troops, vehicles or aircraft are currently concentrated at the base, although they have been boosting their firepower at the airstrip ever since they seized it on November 25.
Marines in light armoured vehicles and all-terrain humvees continued to patrol the desert around the airstrip but Romley said there had been no hostile contacts for the past week.
Pilots flying reconnaissance missions in Huey and Cobra helicopters reported seeing isolated civilian vehicles and groups of people in the desert.
US jets are keeping up a bombing campaign against Kandahar, while tribal forces have been closing in from three fronts on the Taliban's last bastion – Afghanistan (AFP)
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